Liberal Democrat Councillor Lynne Featherstone has successfully lobbied the Royal Mail to reintroduce collection discs on pillar boxes in Haringey after complaints from residents that they did not know if they had missed the last collection of the day when posting a letter.

Cllr Featherstone wrote to the Royal Mail in June requesting that they reintroduce collection discs. Last week Royal Mail responded positively, acknowledging that the current situation ‘…did not give the public a defined indication if a pillar box has been cleared or not.’

The Royal Mail has promised to reinstall all discs and disc holders in the North London postcode area by October 2004. However the new discs will have a day indicator on them rather than a number as before.

Cllr Featherstone has welcomed the decision by the Post Office to reintroduce the disc for the pillar boxes in the area. She says that although the new discs are not ideal they do serve a very useful purpose for users.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) comments:

“I am delighted that Royal Mail has responded positively to my lobbying.

“Although the new discs do not give users an indication of whether they have missed a specific collection during the day, it does essentially let them know if they have caught the last collection of the day and that is certainly an improvement.”